Method of treating manure.



Y No. e74,a2e.

U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

REDERICK A. GOECKELER, OF W OR CESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

I IMETHOD OF TREATING MANURE.

To all whom it map concern:

Be it known tha' I, FREDERICK A. Gonorrl ELER, ,a citizen-of the United States, residin at Worcester, in the county of Worcester an offal, and other substances. The sulfuric acid, however, has not performed its function butathey being dissipated slowly for several seasons.

- Ihave found by'actual stances v zer in the ordinary sense of t tains in fertilizers are made in the f manner, and also the entire body of ammo in a complete manner when applied to sub like fresh manure'in which the ammonia readily volatilizes.

The. principal object of this invention is to rovide for treating the latter substance not or the purposeof convertin it into a fertili- .e word, but for the pur ose of thoroughly deodorizing it and fixing the ammonia and salts which it consuch a manner that it can be left out in the air for long periods of time without any danger of the valuable constituents escap'ing-into the air, and without any danger of the generation of foul odors. l r 4 a When manure is treated in accordance with this invention smaller quantities of sulfu'ric acid are-required than 1s the'case when above mentioned me is fixed as isevidenced'by the fact that all the odor disappears and the substance is" rendered stable .to such an extentthat even if left out in the air over the winter it can be used for fertilizing.

of the soil for several and other valuable dissolved and lost remain in the soil, dissolving an treated in this manner grows r1cher each year, and. that a' worn out soil, especially of the New England States, can be brought up to a high degree, of fertility in one or two seasons. N

I will now describe my invention'more- Specification of Letters Patent. Application and Haroh'lll, i907. Serial No. 362.804.

Treating Manure, of is well known that sulfuric acid can beused for the purpose of fixin '10 Under these circu'm' not only to have sub:

' .e' ual "quantities byexperience that 'soil Patented Dec. 17, 1907.

particularly and set forth an example of an eflicient way of carrying out the same.

Commercial sulfuric acid is used as has been the case heretofore, but instead of treating the material with it,for the purpose of making fertilizer, it is mixed with water and deposited on the fresh manure. As has been stated the sulfuric acidwill fix such ammonia as it comes directly incontact with, aqueous solutiony 'b'ut the sulfuric acid has nocapacity of attacking the ammonia which the form of noxious fumes,.so that if the sulfuri'c acid alone is employed sufiicient quantities must be used to come into contact with and neutralize all the ammonia in the 'manure. In order to greatly reduce the amount-of aci used and to neutralizing the gases while, form, I mix with the sulfuric acid 'substan tially an equal proportion of muriatic acid, The muriatic acid has the property of vola tilizing withoutdecomposin and of retaining acid.character whlle' vo atilized, come he formed, and is :much more large area than sulfuric acid. -=It is to be understood that the sulfuric that the use of the muriatic acid carries forward the function. of'the sulfuric acid and adds other functions herein specified. Moreover, the chloride which are'formed by the muriatic acid have adifierent degree of solubility than the sulfates. 'Some of the salts formed therefore will be of a more lasting .Tcharacter .than others, and their effect will be produced for'a longer period of time for fertilizing the soil, whlle other salts formed will be more available for, fertilizin purposes wl1en first applied to the groun seeds are germinating and getting their fi'rst start; I f As I have stated I prefer to employabout volume of commercial 511' c and muriatic "acids to three ordinaryfwat'er pails of water which forms enough material to treat a cord of manure. used, a larger quantity of sulfuric willbe necessary, and even then all of the fumes from the material cannot be destroyed at the is volatilized and which escapes in the air in quently',-it attacks [the ammonia which may free to cover a acid-forms the basis-of-the treatment, but.

Ifthe hydrochloric acid is notprovide for attacking and and after, they while the acid, and in the prcportion about one-half-pint of the mixed first ap lication. In casesin which there is not an cient ammonia or ammonium compounds 1n the manure I add the ordinary ammonia solution of the market to the acids I produced without any special care of this in such quantity as may be found desirable.

The mixture is preferably applied by sprinkling it on the-manure in a fine spray or slmply b throwing it on a dipper-full at a time. Jf the sulfuric acid alone is emplo ed care must be taken to cover all of the sur ace of the'manure, but if it is mixed with muriatic acid as stated, the desn'ed effect will be kind. I

It is to be observed that in addition to the improvement inthe fertilizing ualities and the duration of the same which we been de scribed, the a plication'of this invention offers means-w erebymanure may be put on lawns and the like in such a manner as to have the. desired effect without generating. the disagreeable odors which make that method of fertilizing so objectionable.

In addition to the above mentioned advantage of the use of muriatic acid whether mixed with sulfuric or other acids, or used alone, it will" beobserved that the chlorid of" ammonium formed by the muriatic acid contains'about 26% of nitrogen, while the sulfate contains 21%, the sulfate also being two and onethird times moreeasily soluble than the chlorid. 'This means a much greater loss by rain and'the melting of snow, etc, and therefore of the fertilizing value,

when the sulfuric acid is used.

Twenty-six parts of nitrogen 1n the form of chiorid will have at least as much, and probably a greater, fertilizing efficiency than forty-ei 'ht and nine-tenths parts of nitrogen in the form of sulfate. In other words, if chlorid of ammonium is used, over 18% less by weight is required to secure the same ferti i Zing efficiency if'merely the nitrogen content is considered, relative solubility of the two compounds is considered. It will be seen therefore that by the use of muriatic acid there is a smaller loss of fertilizing power by rain, drainage, and

the like, the assimilation of the nitro en is surer and safer, and there 1s available arger percentage of nitrogen.

The use of, the muriatic acid is especially 'tion at all stages of its growth.

. somewhat but'about 6O less if the valuable where the manure is to be left out over the winter, and where it is used on soils wlth a surplus of moisture or drainage.

However, it is better to combine it with the sulfuric acid in order that the easily soluble sulfate may be present to insure the decomosition of a part of the fertilizer when it is irst applied to the ground, so that the vegetation may have the benefit of the fertiliza- The beneficial results of the muriatic acid can be obtained without its admixture with sulfuric or.

any, other acid, but I prefer to use it in the 'manner above specified, although the kinds and proportions of acids will be controlled by the kind and condition of the manure to be treated.

I am aware that the invention can be car-- ried out by the u use of acids in different pro portions than those specified,

without departing from the scope of the invention asexpressed in the claims. Therefore, Ido not wish to be limited to the'proportions and treatment specified, but

What I do claim is 1. A method of treatin -manure which consists in applying to'it w ile fresh a mixture containing muriatic and sulfuric .acid.

2. A method of treating manure which consists in applying to it While fresh a mix ture containing dilute commercial muriatic and sulfuric acids and ammonium salts.

3. The method of treating manure for preserving its fertilizing qualities, and deodorizing it, which consists in applying to it a mixture of acids and water in substantially the proportion of one-half pint of the mixed acids and three pailfuls of water to a cord of manure 

